


solomon

by allechant



Series: ars goetia [5]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24391489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allechant/pseuds/allechant
Summary: three syllables, but not the ones she wanted to hear.
Relationships: Main Character/Solomon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)
Series: ars goetia [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738339
Comments: 25
Kudos: 135





	solomon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Scripturiens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scripturiens/gifts).



For two weeks she hadn’t seen Solomon. She tried not to be too concerned about that, but he hadn’t been showing up to classes and even the other students were starting to notice.

Simeon had no idea what Solomon was doing. Apparently, he couldn’t remember seeing the sorcerer around for the past couple of days, but Solomon didn’t mention what he was busy with and Simeon respected his privacy enough not to ask.

Lucifer wasn’t pleased about the situation either. “It reflects poorly on the exchange programme if Solomon keeps skipping classes,” he told her once over dinner.

“I’ll talk to him,” she promised. Provided she could find him in the first place. He hadn’t been replying her messages lately. When she went to Purgatory Hall to look for him, coincidentally or not he was just _never_ in his room. She was starting to think he was outright avoiding her, but since she never saw him, she couldn’t be sure.

But there was still one place she saw Solomon regularly. Every night, without fail, she would dream about him. His behaviour in her dreams varied though. In the beginning, he was soft and tender, the way he was when she first dreamt of him – but as the days passed, he grew distant. He would try not to touch her or talk to her, and even though it was just a dream, it still kind of stung. She exhaled.

Looking through her phone, she found the last conversation they had – three weeks ago when she asked if she could copy off his assignment. He agreed in exchange for a nice meal, and she was desperate by that point, so she foolishly said yes.

She had to cut back on her expenses for the next two weeks to compensate for his fancy dining experience in Ristorante Six. Never again.

All the messages after that conversation came from her. Asking him where he was, why he wasn’t appearing at school, what he was up to. He never answered, and she just kind of gave up after a while. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t hurt at all by his lack of response, but well…she wasn’t his girlfriend. He wasn’t obliged to reply if he didn’t want to. At least that was what she tried to tell herself.

Maybe if she hung out around Purgatory Hall long enough, he’d finally show up. But she didn’t want to spend all her time there. Sure, Simeon was nice, and Luke never failed to offer her some of his amazing sweets every time she went to visit. But she couldn’t help feeling like an intruder since Solomon wasn’t around. She wasn’t an actual resident of Purgatory Hall, even if the angels welcomed her with open arms.

She climbed up the stairs to her room, dumping her bag on the floor and flopping onto her bed with a sigh. That stupid, annoying sorcerer. He had no idea how much trouble he was causing with his absence. And even if he knew he’d probably find it amusing. Solomon seemed like the kind of person who’d love to watch the world burn.

Lucifer was likely expecting her to drag Solomon back to school, somehow. But what could she do? He refused to pick up any calls or reply to her texts. She wondered if she could make him listen while she was dreaming, but she quickly dismissed the thought – dreams were just dreams, no matter how realistic they were.

She could feel her eyelids drooping. It had been a long day. She wasn’t able to get to sleep last night, and she just barely managed to make it through all her classes without nodding off. It had been this way for the past couple of nights – Solomon in her dreams looked more frazzled too. She recalled the dark circles underneath his eyes and she shuddered, hoping that his real self was faring better than in her dreams.

Recently, she had taken to sharing a bed with Belphie. The Avatar of Sloth usually didn’t have much issue sending her to sleep, but nowadays even his powers didn’t quite work on her. Sometimes when he looked at her, an emotion resembling concern would flit through his violet eyes, though he never outright said anything. But she thought that things had to be pretty serious if even Belphie was worried.

There were times where she was afraid of going to sleep. Afraid that when she saw Solomon in her dreams, he’d look worse than he did the previous time. It was hard to remind herself that these were just dreams, and they didn’t impact the real world at all. Not when it was so realistic; not when she could remember every single detail this way.

Her eyes closed, and she rested her phone on her stomach, idly considering a quick nap. For once she was tired enough that perhaps she’d be able to fall asleep without Belphie’s help. She yawned, turning over – her phone slid off her stomach, clattering onto the floor, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care.

She’d think about her promise to Lucifer later. Solomon had already managed to hide from everyone for two weeks – a few more hours wouldn’t make any difference.

* * *

When she opened her eyes, she found herself somewhere extremely familiar, almost nostalgic – her room back in the human world. She gasped, looking around – it was exactly as she left it, down to the laptop she had plugged in to charge, the window she had half-opened to let in the night air, the book she had left unfinished on her bed.

She heard someone clear their throat and her gaze landed on a familiar figure sitting at her desk, one hand placed on her laptop. His lips curved up when she met his eyes and instantly, she felt blood rushing up to her face. It was one thing to dream about Solomon in his room. It was another thing to see him in _her_ room.

He was dressed differently today. Instead of his usual full-black outfit and cape, he was dressed like any regular person in the human world – a short-sleeved shirt and dark jeans. It was strange, not seeing him in his usual sorcerer’s garb. But he didn’t look bad. Actually, he looked like the exact type of guy she’d normally date.

Safe. Reliable. A little too predictable. Before she arrived at the Devildom, those were the traits all her exes had in common. But she knew Solomon was nothing like them, even if he _looked_ that way now. “Decided to change your style?” she asked.

“Well, we’re in the human world. It only makes sense that I swap my clothes to match, doesn’t it?” he said, and she couldn’t help but smile at his breezy response. It made a nice change from the past few dreams, where he just stood in a corner and stared at her without saying a word until she finally woke up. “You must be homesick.”

“Aren’t you?” she asked. He shrugged, getting up from her chair. She didn’t move even as he approached, and finally, he was standing right in front of her. There was something a little different about him today – well, besides the outfit – but she couldn’t place her finger on what. “I miss my room, you know. I miss everything here.”

“But you’re here now,” he whispered, leaning close – her breath caught when his hand cupped her face, his thumb sliding over her cheek. “You can only enjoy this for a few precious moments before you wake up back in the Devildom, but that’s good enough for you, isn’t it?” Curiosity glimmered in his yellow-blue eyes.

“Did you create this world?” she asked. Part of her entertained the possibility that Solomon was truly appearing in her dreams, that the person she spoke to now was _real_ – it seemed so plausible when they were talking like this. He didn’t say anything, just looking steadily back at her, and she frowned. “You can answer _that_ much, can’t you?” she said. “Please don’t try to evade –”

“No. It wasn’t me.” His finger pressed gently against her lips, shushing her, and she stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. “It’s your dream. How could I have created it?”

“Then what about you? Are you just a figment of my imagination?” The Solomon in her dreams seemed too close to the original sometimes – she didn’t think her brain was capable of creating something so true to reality. He paused at her question, his finger still lingering on her mouth, and she thought she saw uncertainty in his expression.

But then he blinked and smiled, and she was left wondering if she had just imagined the look on his face. “Sometimes dreams are guiding lights that can illuminate the path to the truth. But at other times, dreams are nothing more than dreams. It depends on what you want to believe, isn’t it?”

That was a non-answer if she ever heard one. She sighed. “You’re still so frustrating. If I created this world then shouldn’t you be more like my ideal version of you?”

His beautiful eyes almost seemed to glow. “And what _is_ your ideal version of me?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” A small smile crossed his face at her response, and he shifted his finger away from her mouth – her eyes widened when he closed the gap between them, and his soft lips covered hers. Her reaction was purely instinctual – with a quiet moan she wrapped her arms around his waist and leant into him.

It had only been two weeks, but when he kissed her, she realised just how much she had missed this. Missed _him_ , even if she didn’t want to admit it. Everything was just strange when Solomon wasn’t there. It wasn’t like she needed him to function. She knew she didn’t. But she was so used to him being _present_.

Him with his calm, knowing smile that never quite reached his eyes. The promises he’d whisper when they were coming undone, skin-to-skin, drowning in each other. The way his gaze would linger on her when she left his side, their fingers reaching for each other through the liminal space that separated dreams and reality.

Even in her sleep, she couldn’t escape him. Sometimes she didn’t think she wanted to. “You’ve been avoiding me,” she whispered, pulling back, her hands fisting the front of his shirt. He held her gaze for a moment, then he glanced away – his hand reached up to cover hers, and she thought he’d try to pull her off, but he didn’t.

“I had to figure something out,” he answered. “It was…bothering me. Something I wasn’t able to explain.” His fingers tightened around her hand.

“Have you found the answer, then?” It was rare to see him looking uncertain. The only time she recalled him being this way was when he couldn’t make up his mind about what to eat for lunch. And even _that_ hardly ever happened.

“Not really.” He paused, then finally he looked at her. She was taken aback by the mournful expression on his face. “I don’t think I’ll ever know. But that’s the hardest part. Trying to let go. I’ve never had to do that before, and it’s not…it doesn’t feel good.”

Her instinctive reaction was to gloat. Here he was, someone who seemed practically omniscient – at least, in comparison to her – who finally came across something that he didn’t understand. Now he knew how it felt to always be left in the dark.

But she saw the grim look on his face, and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything even remotely teasing. “What’s the question you’re trying to answer?”

He sighed. His fingers slid through her hair, and she closed her eyes, enjoying the comforting weight of his hand on her head. “I wonder. How are you able to create all these worlds? And why am I being called to them? I don't have the answer.”

It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did, her eyes flew open and she gaped at him. “Wait. Are you saying – are you saying that you’re _real_?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Reality is such a subjective thing.” He twirled some of her hair around his finger. “Even after you wake up, who’s to say that you aren’t still dreaming?"

“No. No wordplay this time.” She shook her head. “It’s a simple yes or no question, Solomon. Are you real? When we wake up, will your conscious self be aware of this conversation? Is this some kind of shared dream?”

He didn’t answer for a while. She couldn’t guess what he was thinking. Just when she was about to prompt him, he let go of her and stepped back, folding his arms across his chest. “Perhaps. Sometimes. I don’t know.”

It sounded like it pained him to admit anything, but this was a good first step. She narrowed her eyes at him. “So…you’re tampering with my dreams?” she checked.

She _knew_ there was something strange about how realistic her dream Solomon was. He looked at her. “Right now? No. You summoned me here. Night after night, your dreams have called to me. And I have no choice but to come to you.”

“I’ve…been summoning you?” She didn’t understand. “But you’re not a demon. It’s not like we have a pact or anything. How am I able to summon you?”

He frowned. “If I knew, we wouldn’t be in this situation. I have barely any control now – no matter how much I wish to leave, I cannot.” A faint smile curved his lips. “Well, on the bright side, I’ve been telling you nothing but the truth. That's what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Not like this. Not this way.” She stepped towards him. He didn’t back away, but he watched her cautiously. It felt like he was looking _through_ her rather than at her. “I wanted to find out more about _you_ , Solomon,” she said. “About your past. About who you really are. The way you think, the secrets you keep. Not a problem that you only decided to admit because you realised you were unable to find the answer.”

He closed his eyes. “That’s not something that I can admit so readily,” he said, and his tone was so light and casual, so matter of fact. It almost hurt to hear.

She decided not to press the topic – she didn’t want to upset herself. “Every single dream I’ve had of you the past few weeks. Were you real in all of them?”

“I don’t know.” He met her gaze. “I don’t always remember.”

There was a finality to his tone that she had never heard before. She drew a shaky breath. “Fine. But are these dreams – are they the reason you’ve not been coming to school?” Since he _could_ be the actual Solomon, she might as well ask.

“No. I was just tired of school.” She noticed the way he relaxed as he answered, a placid smile returning to his face. She hated that smile. It meant he wasn’t being entirely honest with her, and he didn’t care whether she was aware of that or not.

“Do you have some instinctive defence mechanism where you just _can’t tell people the truth_?” she snapped, unable to hold back any longer. His smile faltered. “I’m so tired of putting up with this! I try to show you that I care about you, and _this_ is how you respond?”

She wanted to give up. He was exhausting. And sometimes she thought she was an idiot for trying to chase after him, for thinking that she had the patience to pick him apart.

Solomon stared at her for a moment. Then he sighed and pulled her towards him – it was too sudden for her to react, and the next thing she knew his arms were looped around her waist, his chin resting on the top of her head. “You have three questions.”

Had she misheard him? Three questions? But when she tipped her head back to look at him, she saw that he was perfectly serious – there was no trace of amusement in those yellow-blue eyes, and she swallowed, her mind abruptly going blank.

Three questions. What did she most want to know? “How old are you?”

His gaze drifted away from her, and suddenly he looked so distant – it didn’t seem like he was registering her room at all. “Much older than you. Far older than what this body would have you believe.” He blinked, then his gaze sharpened, and he smiled. “I genuinely can’t remember. But old enough to have learnt a few things.”

“How could you live for so long?” she demanded. This was her second question. She already knew what she would ask for her third, but first she wanted to get to the bottom of his agelessness. It was unfathomable. Solomon was human, wasn’t he?

“Magic,” he answered. “Magic and trickery. Anyone can escape death as long as they discover the path that leads out of Hell.” There was a wistfulness to his words now, and she could _feel_ him reminiscing.

The path that led out of Hell. Interesting. But that wasn’t the thing she was most curious about. “And why do you want to make so many pacts?”

There was the longest pause, and she was starting to think that he would refuse to say anything when he suddenly chuckled and buried his face in her hair. She could feel the vibrations of his laughter in his chest. “Why? I think I’ve answered this question before. I like to collect things.”

“You’re not telling me the whole truth.” She frowned at him, and he shook his head, his smile becoming indulgent. For some reason, she felt like a child in front of their ancient grandparent, crying for the answers to the mysteries of the universe.

Maybe that was how Solomon felt about her. “But it is a truth nevertheless.” She felt his lips brush against her forehead. “You’re such a curious one. That’s why you like me, isn’t it?” She could sense bitterness in his words, but when she looked at him, she saw no trace of it, and she wondered if she was being oversensitive.

“I…” Should she admit that she liked him? She didn’t want to. Admitting that she had actual romantic feelings wouldn’t benefit her at all. But when he said things like that so confidently, it was difficult to tell him no. “I find you interesting.”

“Interesting?” he echoed. “I suppose that’s one way to put it.” He let go of her and stepped back, studying her. She met his gaze head-on, not wanting to be the first to look away. “Nothing good ever comes out of being close to me. I want you to remember that. Even if you wake up from this dream and forget everything else, don’t forget this.” His voice softened. “I’m no good for anyone or anything.”

Something in her chest ached when she heard him say that. He didn’t look sad. He spoke in such a straightforward manner that she knew he genuinely believed what he said. “You can’t just say something like that. It might not be true for everyone.”

A half-smile. “Oh, but it is. We can have fun and while our year away together in the Devildom. But don’t fall for me. It doesn’t matter if you have any feelings for me or not. Once this year is over, we’ll be strangers again. As we should be.”

Her chest didn’t just ache now. His words stabbed her; they were little knives that drove themselves deep into her lungs, twisting until she gasped for air – she had been turned down before, but this felt _different_. She was unable to meet his gaze.

“Why?” she asked. It was all she could bring herself to say.

Something in him seemed to crack. When he next spoke, she could hear the sadness in his voice. “Because being with me will bring you nothing but pain, _ahuvati_.”

Again, that unfamiliar name. “The days I spend with you feel like a dream. But just now reminded me that all I’ve ever done was hurt you. And I don’t want you to suffer any more than you already have.” She could feel his gaze lingering on her.

“Not giving me a choice feels worse,” she retorted, her voice trembling slightly. It sounded almost like a farewell. But it wasn’t, right? He was coming back. He would.

He laughed. It was a humourless sound. “Cycles tend to repeat themselves. There’s no point in trying to fight the wheels of fate.” Then he sighed. “Maybe in another world, I could have loved you.” His voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Her head jolted up when she heard him say that, but he was nowhere to be found – she looked wildly around for him, but her room started to spin and when everything stilled and she managed to open her eyes, she was back at the House of Lamentation, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe.

She instinctively reached to the floor, scrabbling for her phone – when she found it, she saw a new message from Solomon, and she opened the chat with shaking fingers.

 **Solomon** : _Wow, this is a lot of messages._

 **Solomon** : _Sorry, I had to settle something in the human world._

 **Solomon:** _I got Diavolo’s permission to leave the Devildom, but I’m back now. Why? Did something happen while I was gone?_

 **Solomon:** _Guess I should have told Lucifer I’d be skipping school. Diavolo probably never brought it up._

She exhaled, an overwhelming sense of relief flooding her. It was just a dream. Just a stupid, awful dream. He wasn’t breaking up with her or anything. Not that they were a couple, to begin with. But anyway, the dream _wasn’t real_. She closed her eyes, holding her phone to her chest.

Still. She couldn’t forget the look on his face, the sound of his voice when he told her that she ought to stay away from him. The memory still made her chest ache. Her fingers tightened around her phone.

Why did she even care? She didn’t want to. But she knew that she did. And if she didn’t go to see him, she wouldn’t be able to concentrate for the rest of the day.

With a sigh, she got off her bed. Maybe she could ask him why he had to go back to the human world, and why he never thought to _tell her_. It wasn’t that she was concerned about him. But as fellow humans, shouldn’t they stick together?

No. She definitely wasn’t worried about him at all.

**Author's Note:**

> hi get on the angst train choo choo
> 
> thank u scripturiens for bouncing off ideas with me u r the best <3
> 
> yell at me on [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/dontenchantme)


End file.
